Millennia-old inscriptions uncovered in a region tied to the Apostle Paul are shedding new light on how ancient people practiced religion nearly 2,000 years ago.A recent study examined nine newly documented inscriptions discovered during a survey of Akmoneia, an ancient city in the historical region of Phrygia, in modern-day western Turkey.Hüseyin Uzunoğlu, an associate professor at Akdeniz University in Turkey, and Münteha Dinç, an associate professor at Uşak University, are the co-authors of the study, published in the journal Gephyra.ANCIENT BOOK OF REVELATION CITY GIVES UP STUNNING SECRET BURIED FOR 1,500 YEARSPhrygia is mentioned in the New Testament.It's associated with the missionary journeys of the Apostle Paul, who traveled through the region and helped spread Christianity across the Roman world.But the newly documented inscriptions — which date between the first and third centuries A.D.
— highlight the religious traditions that already existed in the region.Ancient inscriptions discovered in Phrygia, in modern-day western Turkey, are shedding new light on religious practices in the region nearly 2,000 years ago.(Hüseyin Uzunoğlu/Münteha Dinç)Among the most significant was an inscription concerning a statue of Demeter Karpophoros, a goddess associated with fertility and harvests.Uzunoğlu told Fox News Digital that while the cult was already well established elsewhere in Asia Minor, there had previously been no written proof of its presence in Phrygia.ARCHAEOLOGISTS IN ISRAEL UNCOVER 1,700-YEAR-OLD ROMAN-ERA STATUES BURIED FACE DOWN"But until this inscription — and a closely related one we published a couple of years ago — there was no epigraphic proof that the cult existed in Phrygia at all, even though Phrygia was a major agricultural region," he said."So this fills in a real gap on the map of ancient religious practice."The ancient region of Phrygia is mentioned in the New Testament and associated with the missionary journeys of Apostl...